basically, in front of a wall that's painted white, place a peice of plexiglass the size of the wall. rig this up to a fiber optics system, like the ones in those tacky fake christmas trees that change colour. then, next to the light switch, put a colour wheel that allows you select the colour you want your walls to be, plus a switch turning the system on and off. this way, you can change your decor to fit your mood everyday, rather than painting. a bonus if you're the kind of person who accidently gets the wring colour paint. if you did each wall, you could have them on seperate circuits and make different designs for the room. one wall a different colour than the others, alternating wall colours, a colour that gets darker ask you walk in a circle around the room. just want white? turn it off. if you go with light colours, you wouldn't have to use the overhead light.
-- schematics, Jul 15 2004

Star ceiling http://www.del-ligh...d_installation.html
So you want something like this, but on the wall? [evilmathgenius, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

Chameleonic Wallpaper http://www.halfbake...eleonic_20wallpaper
A similar idea [friendlyfire, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

I've seen this on a ceiling before.
-- evilmathgenius, Jul 15 2004


any pictures? I'd like to see what it looks like.
-- schematics, Jul 15 2004


I don't think I understand how this would work exactly. Shining light in to an edge of a piece of acrylic doesn't do a great job of sending light out through the surfaces. "rig this up to a fiber optics system" means having actual fiber optics? If so, is the acrylic just to make a continuous surface on the wall? The term "Quasi-Fiberoptic" leads me to believe that there are no actual fiber-optic strands employed in this scheme.
-- half, Jul 15 2004


well, see, the problem is that i don't know about the specifics. i've seen it done, with smaller peices of plexiglass, but i just don't know how. on the other hand, most people don't know exactly how motors work, but no one ever asks them to explain it in the car ideas section. it's only quasi because I don't know
-- schematics, Jul 15 2004


If the idea was for a new type of motor, I'd certainly ask for the particulars of how it worked.

I hope you don't feel like I'm picking on you. I'm just trying to put together the clues to figure out what you're actually proposing. Some things are conflicting in my brain which I naturally assume is due to me misunderstanding something or lacking knowledge in some area so I ask questions. I'm not dis'ing the concept.
-- half, Jul 15 2004


Theres something like this at the Phoenix Public Library in the toilet areas on the top floor.

It's very cool
-- energy guy, Jul 15 2004


I somehow thought the idea included showing the wall through the acrylic and figured that etching the surface of the acrylic would ruin that. I've seen the type of artwork with etching (most recently some cool stuff in glass at a Cheesecake Factory restaurant) and have played around with engraving and lighting acrylic.

I don't recall having noticed what [energy guy] mentioned in the library. I'll give it a closer look next time I'm in there.
-- half, Jul 15 2004


Yeah, it's definitely more a public space high-tech architecture thing. I don't see why so many of these ideas (home laugh track, home skins, et. al.) have to be in your home. They're all great ideas to try, but I'd have them in public buildings or even offices rather than try to live with them 24/7- I like my home safe and unmodified. Oh yes, nearly forgot - good idea, have a croissant.
-- wagster, Jul 15 2004


is there a category for public archetecure? I didn't even think of it. 'course, it could go in either, so i'll just leave it.
-- schematics, Jul 15 2004


a new shade of purple for everyday.
-- prodigious, Jul 16 2004


I say this idea is awesome. The edge-lit link looks a little shoddy, but if it was a solid color that could continuously change between red, yellow and blue and had a dimmer... well shit, you'd need no additional lights in the house and you'd always have surroundings that somehow suited your mood. I give it a [+]
-- Cheekio, Jul 16 2004


hey, yeah. a preset crossfader would be neat too. you could have it become a darker shade as the it gets later, or change colour over the course of a day.
-- schematics, Jul 16 2004


I've seen some very neat effects, color-wise, when multiple colors of light from neon tubes mixes behind translucent plastic (Uvex). I imagine the same effect would occur in this scheme using multiple light sources.
-- half, Jul 16 2004


Just seen some new uplighters that use the new high output led's in an RGB matrix. They've got a shedload of light output and will do 24bit colour mixing. You have to use them simply as uplighters on a wall, but they look cool. Will search for a link.
-- wagster, Jul 18 2004



random, halfbakery